(AP) – A Kansas hunting organization is doing its part to help food pantries stay stocked with fresh meat while making sure deer meat doesn’t go to waste.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports that a group called Kansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry works with 40 locker plants across the state to process deer carcasses and distribute the meat to food pantries.

Tony DeRossett is president of the group. He says that the program satisfies the need for meat while ensuring that hundreds of deer that are killed each season don’t go to waste.

Last year, the program arranged for the processing of 1,108 deer taken during deer-hunting seasons. DeRossett said that totaled 225,000 meals for hungry Kansans.

DeRossett helped found the organization in 2001 after reading about a similar effort in Maryland.